US, China tempers flare over blitz of North Korean missile launches

At UN Security Council meeting, China, Russia accuse US of increasing risk of military confrontation, poisoning regional security

Japan calls latest North Korean missile launches ‘absolutely unacceptable’

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North Korea fired two ballistic missiles on Thursday while China and Russia justified the recent blitz of tests as necessary countermeasures against US-led military drills. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:39pm, 6 Oct 2022

Envoys from China, Russia and the United States clashed over North Korea at an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting on Wednesday, as Pyongyang stepped up ballistic missile tests.

On Thursday, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan, just two days after it fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over the Japanese archipelago for the first time in five years.

It was North Korea’s sixth missile launch in 12 days, and came after joint military exercises conducted by the US and South Korea.

Tokyo on Thursday lodged a “vehement protest” with North Korea through its embassy in Beijing, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida denouncing it as “absolutely unacceptable”, Reuters reported.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeated a call for Pyongyang to return to dialogue, and warned that nuclear-armed North Korea risked further condemnation and isolation if it continued its “provocations”.

Hours earlier, Pyongyang had lashed out at recent joint military drills held by South Korea, the US and Japan and condemned Washington for raising Tuesday’s ballistic missile launch at the UN.